Ivy and Bean are outside with the rest of the gymnastics club. They are taking turns doing cartwheels. Bean does one and then sits down, somewhat dizzy. Emma does nine in a row. Zuzu does twelve plus a backbend. And when it’s Ivy’s turn, she says she is guarding the jackets. When others protest that you can’t be in Gymnastics Club if you are just going to guard jackets and start to doubt whether Ivy can even do a carthwheel, Bean intercedes.
“She can do a cartwheel. I’ve seen her.”
Ivy, who has never done a cartwheel in her life, is surprised by her friend Bean. But any reader with a good friend—the kind of friend who has your back, the kind of friend who doesn’t hesitate to lie about your cartwheeling ability, won’t be surprised at all. And it is this powerful friendship that I love so much about these books.
But, after some shenanigans with boys playing soccer, the cartwheels soon to become irrelevant:
“Like I was saying, I can’t do a cartwheel at the moment,” said Ivy.
“Why?” asked Zuzu with her hands on her hips.
“Because,” Ivy said, “we’ve got an emergency situation going on. Right over there.” She pointed.
Emma, Zuzu, and Bean followed Ivy’s pointed finger across the playground. She was pointing directly to the girls’ bathroom. The one right outside their classroom.
Duh, duh, duh. (Hear the music?)
Title: Ivy and Bean: The Ghost that Had to Go
Author: Annie Burrows
Illustrator: Sophie Blackall
Age: Early Chapter Book, Early Elementary School
Genre: Realistic Fiction
And so begins another adventure with the two friends, this one about “The Ghost that Had to Go.”
Ha! (If you didn’t laugh, read it again and remember that Ivy was pointing to the bathroom.) Okay, see, now you are laughing. To laugh some more, write a comment below to enter to win a FREE COPY of Ivy and Bean and the Ghost that Had to Go (Book 2). More details about the contest are here. (Remember, I’m giving away one book every week for NINE weeks, so come back next week too!)
And for ideas about things to do with your kids, check out this page on Ivy and Bean’s way cool website!
Comment away!
the family that reads together 